Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much his Department spent on housing benefits in the last financial year; and how much of that was spent on housing provided by (a) local authorities, (b) other social housing providers and (c) private sector landlords.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
In 2022/23 the Department spent £28.97 billion on Housing Benefit and Universal Credit Housing Element combined.
£15.00 billion was spent on Housing Benefit and £13.97 billion was spent on Universal Credit Housing Element. The quoted Housing Benefit expenditure excludes expenditure funded by Local Authorities.
Housing Benefit expenditure by tenure in 2022/23:
Universal Credit Housing Element expenditure by tenure in 2022/23:
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of increasing local housing allowance rates.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Local Housing Allowance policy is reviewed annually by the Secretary of State. The Department monitors average rents and housing support levels provided to claimants to assess the impact of the policy and the merits of any potential changes prior to a fiscal event.
In 2020 we spent almost £1 billion increasing LHA rates to the 30th percentile of market rents. This significant investment has been maintained ensuring that everyone who benefited continues to do so. LHA rates are not intended to cover all rents in all areas.
For those who face a shortfall in meeting their housing costs and need further support. Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) are available from local authorities. Since 2011 the Government has provided nearly £1.6 billion in DHP funding to local authorities.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to collect ethnicity data on Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department follows the Government Statistical Service (GSS) harmonised standard for ethnicity classification. The harmonised standard currently uses the ethnic groups from the 2011 Census but is being reviewed by the GSS harmonisation team who published their initial findings in March 2023.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance he has provided to Job Centres on the replacement of the DS1500 form for terminally ill people with the SR1 form.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
All DWP internal processes and supporting guidance have been updated to reflect the introduction of the SR1 form to support claims made under the 12-month Special Rules for End of Life eligibility criteria.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether information submitted by a medical professional to his Department regarding claimants with terminal illness can be shared with a third party without the claimant's consent.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Claims made under the Special Rules for End of Life are in most cases supported by a short medical evidence form called the DS1500 or SR1, provided by a relevant clinician.
This information can be provided directly to DWP by the claimant’s clinician. DWP may share medical evidence with its commissioned assessment providers so they can advise whether the claimant meets the ‘Special Rules’ eligibility criteria. The DWP would not share medical evidence outside of these secure channels. A third party acting on behalf of the ‘Special Rules’ claimant may ask the claimant’s clinician if they can receive a copy. For PIP, DLA and AA, any person representing the patient can make a third party claim on their behalf. For UC and ESA, only an appointee or a person who has power of attorney can make a third-party claim on the patient’s behalf.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if there is a facility for a third party to submit an SR1 form on behalf of a claimant.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The SR1 form can only be completed by a registered clinician such as; a GP, a hospital consultant, a specialty doctor, a hospice doctor, a senior specialist nurse (such as clinical nurse specialist, advanced nurse practitioner or similar).
Registered clinicians can return the SR1 form directly to the DWP by email or by post. Alternatively, the claimant can return a completed SR1 by post to the relevant address provided on the form.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to provide support into employment that is appropriate to skills and language capabilities for (a) Afghans, (b) Ukranians and (c) Hong Kongers.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Jobcentre Plus Work Coaches are trained to consider a person's circumstances and to tailor support according to their individual needs. Staff complete claimant awareness training that covers a wide range of claimant circumstances and have access to information on services and support available in their local area for claimants who have complex needs, including referral to English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) if appropriate. Communications have been delivered to all sites to ensure our staff are aware of any specific support available for those individuals following events in Afghanistan, Ukraine and Hong Kong.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many sector-based work academies have taken place in each (a) country and (b) region of the UK since that programme began.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Sector-based Work Academies were first launched in August 2011 in England and January 2012 in Scotland. Regular statistical releases on sector-based work academies, covering participation by those on legacy unemployment benefits, began in 2011 and ended in 2017. These statistics can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/employment-schemes-work-experience-sector-based-work-academy-and-skills-conditionality-starts-to-november-2017
The scheme was relaunched as ‘SWAP’ in July 2020 as part of the government’s Plan for Jobs. Data for the financial years 2020/21 and 2021/22 shows that as of 13th March 2022, there was a total of 146,480 starts to a Sector-based Work Academy Programme (SWAP). The breakdown of these starts by nation and region is displayed in the following tables:
Table 1: SWAP starts by nation
Nation | Starts FY 2020/21 | Starts FY 2021/22 – to 13th March | Total Starts |
England | 58,310 | 74,460 | 132,770 |
Scotland | 6,120 | 7,000 | 13,120 |
Unknown | 60 | 520 | 580 |
Total | 64,500 | 81,980 | 146,480 |
Table 2: SWAP starts by region
Region | Starts FY 2020/21 | Starts FY 2021/22 – to 13th March | Total Starts |
West Midlands | 5,000 | 6,920 | 11,920 |
Central, East & North Scotland | 4,340 | 4,670 | 9,010 |
South & West Scotland | 1,780 | 2,330 | 4,110 |
London & Essex | 12,950 | 19,510 | 32,470 |
North & East Midlands | 7,800 | 9,650 | 17,450 |
North Central | 6,960 | 8,530 | 15,490 |
North East | 5,550 | 5,880 | 11,430 |
North West | 5,340 | 6,620 | 11,960 |
South East | 8,200 | 10,650 | 18,860 |
South West | 6,510 | 6,690 | 13,200 |
Unknown | 60 | 520 | 580 |
Total | 64,500 | 81,980 | 146,480 |
Note on above: Figures are rounded to the nearest 10; components may not sum due to rounding. These figures reflect the number of starts by claimants in receipt of Universal Credit (UC), Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) or Income Support (IS).
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to support single parents in receipt of universal credit with young children to find work that fits around their childcare needs.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Under Universal Credit, working families can claim back up to 85% of their registered childcare costs each month
The UC childcare aligns with the wider government childcare offer. This includes the free childcare offer which provides 15 hours a week of free childcare in England for all 3 and 4 year olds and disadvantaged 2 year olds, doubling for working parents of 3 and 4 year olds to 30 hours a week. The UC childcare cost element can be used to top up a claimant's eligible free childcare hours if more hours are worked and childcare is required. This means that reasonable childcare costs should not form a barrier to work.
Additional safeguards apply during this period and any work-related expectations will be limited to a maximum of 16 hours per week whilst they are caring for a pre-school age child.
To assist single parents with making necessary childcare arrangements, work coaches can reduce the maximum time the claimant is expected to spend travelling to and from work. All Work-related requirements will be tailored according to the claimant’s capability and personal circumstances, to ensure they are realistic and achievable.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to support people transitioning from legacy benefits to universal credit in Darlington constituency.
Answered by Will Quince
We currently spend over £95 billion a year on working age benefits including Universal Credit and remain committed to supporting the most vulnerable in society.
Recent changes to Universal Credit include temporarily increasing the standard allowance by up to £1,040 per year and increasing the Local Housing Allowance rates, including the Shared Accommodation element, so that it covers the lowest 30% of local market rents benefiting over one million households by £600 a year on average.
The Department has delivered a number of improvements to support claimants during their first assessment period, such as removing waiting days and paying those claimants moving from Housing Benefit on to Universal Credit a two week ‘transitional housing payment’. Since July 2020, an additional two-week run has been introduced to assist eligible claimants moving from Income Support, Employment and Support Allowance (IR) and Jobseeker’s Allowance (IB). Advance payments are available so nobody has to wait five weeks for payment.
We are also doubling the number of work coaches across our network of jobcentres, from 13,500 to 27,000, so that every jobseeker receives tailored support to get back on their feet, build skills and move into work
We recognise that some people will need extra help to successfully establish a claim to Universal Credit. Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland, have supported in excess of 250,000 individuals through ‘Help to Claim’ since April 2019, offering tailored and practical support to help people make a Universal Credit claim and up to receiving their first full correct payment on time. ‘Help to Claim’ is funded by the Department and is available online, on the phone and face-to-face in locations including Jobcentres and Citizen’s Advice offices.